storing a portable grey table container in am AS 22FB-solution found

[waninae39]

many campgrounds do not have sewage at the site. our sport 22FB has a small grey tank. if we stay more than one day, we need to remove the grey tank contents to a sewage drop

if we take two showers and clean the dishes twice in one day, our grey tank is full. the black tank fill much slower

we disliked storing the grey container inside the trailer and moving it all the time.

well, i built a solution. It fits under the trailer on the right hand side and to the right of the sewage pipe holder, and to the left of the front right jack

here are pics of it under construction and before it gets installed.
I have to wait for the heavy rain to stop

pic #3 shows the road shield, it is on the side that faces the TV. this prevents all the crap, dirt mud etc form coating the side of the grey tank container.

This wall and the floor are made from sheet aluminum. The floor has 100,000 smalls holes for any moisture to drip down.

Once it dries up ill post installed pics

[jamtek]

Originally Posted by waninae39

many campgrounds do not have sewage at the site. our sport 22FB has a small grey tank. if we stay more than one day, we need to remove the grey tank contents to a sewage drop

if we take two showers and clean the dishes twice in one day, our grey tank is full. the black tank fill much slower

we disliked storing the grey container inside the trailer and moving it all the time.

well, i built a solution. It fits under the trailer on the right hand side and to the right of the sewage pipe holder, and to the left of the front right jack

here are pics of it under construction and before it gets installed.
I have to wait for the heavy rain to stop

pic #3 shows the road shield, it is on the side that faces the TV. this prevents all the crap, dirt mud etc form coating the side of the grey tank container.

This wall and the floor are made from sheet aluminum. The floor has 100,000 smalls holes for any moisture to drip down.

Once it dries up ill post installed pics

Looking forward to seeing the installed pics! Have you completed the project yet?

[Boxite]

We dry camp for 5 days at a time with no problem re: size of water tanks.

A plastic bucket in the shower is used to catch water until the hot water reaches the shower-head. We then take a "navy" shower. (A navy shower means get wet, turn water off, lather up, turn water on and rinse off. Any soapy water that happens to land in the plastic bucket simply helps keep the toilet and black tank clean, because ....We use the bucket water to flush the toilet.

We use disposable plates for eating. They make good campfire kindling, or go into a strong, contractor-type trash bag for disposal.

We wash dishes/pots/pans with a large plastic bowl of soapy-water, then toss the water out in the woods. The bowl is then filled with fresh water to rinse the dishes. The rinse-water is added to the shower bucket.

Grey tank, black tank, and fresh tank lasts for almost a week before any needs to replenish occur.

[waninae39]

i completed the install of my grey tank holder
under my as 22FB

i had to move the sewage hose holder to the left side of the fresh water tanks

the 3" lift kit is needed to ensure you have sufficient ground clearance

as mentioned in my first post, the right side has a full alum shield to stop road crap from hitting the tanks

under the grey tank is a mesh that allows water and dirt to fall onto the ground

[pteck]

Great job. It does look like it hangs rather low. How tall is the hold overall?

[waninae39]

its now 4.5" above ground
before the lift the water tank was the lowest at 7.5"

thus i am 3" lower than when i got the trailer

i don't see an issue and will test it in a trip within weeks

[HiJoeSilver]

Looks like a nice bit of work, hope it works out.

Key to clearance would be to keep it as close to the wheels as possible. It comes down to geometry. The fresh water tank can stick down farther because it's between the wheels so trailer pitch doesn't change the clearance much. When the clearance is farther forward and rearward you can get significant changes in clearance due to pitch change with the tow vehicle

[GMFL]

RR tracks going to tear that out from under your trailer and make a mess. It is right behind the spare tire holder a when the wheels of the TV are on one side of a hump and the trailer wheels on the other that's BAD news. And with only 4" of clearance it ain't going to take much. I could tell you how great it looks, (and it does look awesome) but want to be fair to you and say that ain't gonna work.

[AWCHIEF]

That looks dangerous close to the ground. Good luck.

[SpinWhite]

I'm afraid that it won't work without a lot of lift. Our fb22 water tank without a lift gets within 3 inches quite often. Our blue tank goes into pickup bed. There's lots of clearance there.

[HiJoeSilver]

One way to tell would be to raise the stabilizers and slowly retract the jack. If the carrier is going to hit before the jack is fully retracted you'll likely have issues.
Or run a string from where the tire meets the ground and the forward bottom of the jack. If it protrudes below that line you have potential issues.
Can you close up the gap on top?

[waninae39]

i will try the string method
there is not much gap atop as the grey tank has a hose connection that is proud of the grey tank

i don't think i can move it closer to the wheels
ill look again

[waninae39]

Originally Posted by SpinWhite

I'm afraid that it won't work without a lot of lift. Our fb22 water tank without a lift gets within 3 inches quite often. Our blue tank goes into pickup bed. There's lots of clearance there.

without the lift kit, the water tank had 8" of clearance, if you have places that leave only 3" left, then you dropped 5"

my grey tank holder has 4.5" of clearance, thus i cant drop as much.

maybe i can rebuild the base with .25" alum bar instead of 1" wood

that would give me the 5" cleance

[Adventure.AS]

Originally Posted by waninae39

... the grey tank has a hose connection that is proud of the grey tank

You could raise the base of the compartment if you could store the tank upside down with a corresponding slot in the base for the hose connection to go into when you slide in the container.

[JMynes]

I wouldn't travel with that under my trailer. It looks like it will be torn off any second now. When it does fetch up on something it will not only get torn off, it will cause damage to other structures under there, maybe damage tires.
If hanging stuff that low under an Airstream was a good idea we would all be enjoying ample storage space.

[waninae39]

thank you all for the comments!

i will move it to a new spot between the left of the water tank and the front of the axle

there is enough space there, and the space to the ground will not change much as the tires are the pivot point. it will have 4.5 " clearance as is, or up to 5.5" if i modify the deign to shrink the height slightly and use alum bar straps for the base

i will also need to lift the axle after removing the tire. there is an insufficient gap to slide the box in. the axle bracket , tire and water tanks all collude to stop- me (;

this will take some later free weekend to do it
not now

[Boxite]

Originally Posted by JMynes

I wouldn't travel with that under my trailer. It looks like it will be torn off any second now. When it does fetch up on something it will not only get torn off, it will cause damage to other structures under there, maybe damage tires.
If hanging stuff that low under an Airstream was a good idea we would all be enjoying ample storage space.

And when it gets torn off ... it'll stand a good chance of damaging your axle if it's forward of the axle.

[AWCHIEF]

In my opinion just a bad idea. I have had hose carriers torn off that do not hang near that low.

[Boxite]

Speaking of hoses..... in many camping areas (I'm thinking mostly of boondocking sites).... a hose to carry-away grey water into the woods is not a harmful thing to do at all. Local plants will likely enjoy the water and most soap is beneficial to plant life. (Not suggesting to do this in a developed camp or park...but in those places, a sewer hookup is usually available anyway.)

[pteck]

I do think adding storage underneath is a good idea. I likewise added underbelly storage recently but for a less challenging item on my 3" lifted rig.


Thread here - http://www.airforums.com/forums/f480...od-172654.html

If you're considering revising your design, I think there's a couple key things you can do that would net you 3"+ more clearance.
1) Consider reversing the way the tote is stored - i.e. instead of tire end in first, go tire end in last. That way, you can have a couple reliefs in the lower shelf just for the tires such that only they hang lower. And the rest of the tote would sit flat on the shelf. It may not have the nice handle facing out, but you'll have the benefit of lifting only half the tote at a time with the wheels supporting the other half as you angle and push it in
2) Remove the 3/4" boards above and below (saving 1.5" clearance). Use 1.5" aluminum angle extrusion at the top to secure against the frame. Then use 1.5"x1/8" flat extrusions hung off the AL angle, either AL or steel, to create hoops that support the tote. And use lots of rivets to pull it all together.

Hope that makes sense.